The Marine Drive police have arrested a Gujarat resident for allegedly posing himself as a diamond trader and then fleeing away with diamond pieces worth Rs 12 lakh. The accused, identified as Ashok Jivani (35), who hails from Botad district of Gujarat was residing at Mira Road and was named for similar offences of cheating and theft at different police stations of the city. Jivani, who was arrested in the last week of December, has been sent to judicial custody on being produced at Esplanade court on Friday.
According to the police, the complainant who is an executive of an e-commerce website has alleged that Jivani contacted him and said that he was an employee of the Natraj Jewellers from the Trident hotel and he was looking forward to purchasing some diamonds from the website. "The delivery boy went to the said address and Jivani first asked for the diamonds from the boy. After pretending to check the quality of the 130 carat diamonds, Jivani asked the boy to wait in the shop there as he forgot to bring his weighing scale from downstairs. Saying so, Jivani fled from the shop with the diamonds," said a police officer.
Upon probe, the detection team found that Jivani had used a number to contact the website official and based on that, they tracked his Call Record Details (CDR) which drew the cops at his Mira Road residence where he was hiding.
"Our officers were stationed outside his residence for two days to track his movements and later he was arrested. We are also searching for his other accomplice Mahesh Patel (35) who is a Bhavnagar resident. Both of them have cases registered at DB Marg and Dahisar police stations. The relatives of Jivani after being fed up of their illegal activities have given a disclaimer in the newspapers that they are no longer in relations with him any further. Both the accused after executing the theft sell those items in the items. We have recovered 110 carats of diamonds from the accused and have also booked them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code," said the investigating officer of the case, Sachin Ghate.